The present invention relates to a toe piece of a binding for shoes, comprising a support base provided with a pair of jaws arranged on opposite sides of the support base and provided with respective pins of metal material, which extend transversely inwards and are adapted to engage respective seats of metal material arranged in the toe of a footwear item, said support base being further provided with actuating means operable for actuating said jaws upon closing or opening, for respectively locking or releasing the toe of the footwear item.
It is known that, in the Alpine skiing technical field, there is the need to provide bindings comprising a front part or toe piece capable of locking the toe of a ski boot, allowing its rotation about a substantially horizontal axis, and a rear part or heel piece capable of cooperating with the boot heel to allow three different operative modes: free heel (normal progression), free heel with heel cushion (ascension progression), and locked heel (downhill).
A toe piece of the type defined at the beginning is described for example in EP 0 199 098.
A problem felt in relation to such bindings is related to the fact that it is necessary to correctly position the boot toe with respect to the toe piece jaws, so that the seats on such toe are correctly aligned with the closure trajectory of the pins. A positioning error of the boot can force the user to reopen the jaws to perform again the closing procedure. This can be problematic on an uneven ground or steep slopes, especially when the user does not have adequate experience.